Chances are, you haven't heard of the Mexican wolf, Canis lupus baileyi. That may not be so surprising, seeing as the species was almost entirely wiped out by the time of the 1970s. Not only that, its range is limited to parts of Arizona and New Mexico, and its numbers - even there - are low.
Pack hunters with a complex social structure, Mexican wolves breed in February and give birth April-May to a litter of four to six pups. The alpha pair is usually the only breeding pair in the pack - which often consists of four to eight individuals - and are usually monogamous.
Prey includes elk, mule and white-tailed deer, javelina, small mammals (such as rabbits), and some livestock; they also scavenge on carcasses. Their preferred habitat is mountainous woodland, most likely because of its abundance of water, cover, and prey species.
The Mexican wolf was once widespread across parts of southwestern United States. Now, however, it is the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in the country, with only around 109 individuals in the wild. But even this is an improvement. Until captive bred Mexican wolves were released in 1998, there had been no wild members of this species since the 1970s. A goal of 100 wild wolves was suggested by the recovery team as a 'hedge against extinction'. However, even by 2013, a final count put the wild population at only 83.
But in 2014, the team achieved its milestone. A 31% increase in the wild wolf population was recorded at the end of the year, with numbers exceeding the proposed 100. This is almost entirely thanks to the Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team (IFT)in conjunction with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, as well as the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
What's next for the Mexican wolf? As Benjamin Tuggle of the IFT says, 'Testing and implementing new management techniques, such as cross-fostering, can help us improve the genetics of the wild population. The experimental population is growing – now our strategy is to focus on establishing a genetically robust population on a working landscape.'
You can read about the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program here.
By Jon Fern
Picture credit: FWS 2015
